Family Matters
by britt299919
Summary: Danny and Nightwing have been working together as partners ever since they left the team. When Batman calls in a favor, they return to Gotham for a night of patrol, only to meet a mysterious figure. Who is this man, what are his goals, and most importantly, why is he so familiar? Sequel to Double or Nothing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Here it is! The long-awaited sequel to Double or Nothing! I am super excited for this guys. I've never really written older characters before, but Danny and Nightwing are both around my age in this, so it shouldn't be too hard, right? **

…

**Right?**

…

**Anyway… I hope you guys like this first chapter! Though I should prolly warn you that this is going to focus less on the team than the first one and starts to vear into more exclusively 'Batman comics' territory, but it is still a Young Justice story. So yeah. Consider yourself warned?**

**I don't own Danny Phantom or Young Justice. Man does it feel good to type that again!**

* * *

"Are you in position?"

Nightwing peered around a crate as he waited for Danny's response. What was it with criminals and their obsession with hanging around docks late at night? At least it wasn't a warehouse, that would be even worse.

"Yep. Seems like the deal is going down in the warehouse off of 6th Street."

Nightwing refrained from groaning as Danny's voice came through the comm link. Looks like he had spoken too soon. Tonight would end up being yet another warehouse takedown. Fantastic.

Still, Nightwing wasn't entirely sure what he had been expecting. This was Gotham after all. If it wasn't some psychopath who was planning on killing half the city, than it was some mobsters in a warehouse. There really was no in between.

The only reason he was even in Gotham was because Bats had called in a favor. Nightwing wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but Batman couldn't patrol tonight, so he had asked Nightwing to come back, if only for one night. Try as he might, Nightwing hadn't been able to come up with a reason to say no. So here he was, crouching behind a stack of dirty crates preparing to raid yet another warehouse. The only brightside was that Danny was there too. And that they were stopping crime. That was always a good thing, regardless of the situation.

"Alright. I'll take out these guys and make my way over there. No need to leave reinforcements just laying around, ya know?"

Danny snickered. "Uh… pretty sure they _are _going to be laying around once you're done with them. Or would 'strewn about' be a better way to describe their unconscious bodies?"

Nightwing rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile. Hearing Danny joke around never got old, even after all these years.

"Quiet. I need to concentrate." He whispered as he snuck up on his unsuspecting targets. Danny's disbelieving snort rang clearly through the comms.

"Yeah right. The day you need to concentrate to take out guys like that is the day I stop being your partner."

"Maybe." Nightwing admitted, climbing up onto a stack of crates. He grinned as he spotted the group of criminals. He was in the perfect position to drop down into the middle of them. "But still. It's unprofessional. One of us has to be a responsible adult."

"Fair." Danny said. Nightwing could practically see his smirk. "Though it's cute that you think _you're _the responsible one."

"Working." Nightwing said in a sing-song tone of voice. Danny laughed.

"Alright, I'll shut up. Give 'em hell."

"With pleasure," Nightwing said with a dark grin. The men never knew what hit them.

* * *

"Well?" Danny asked as Nightwing ran up to him. "Which was it?"

"What?" Nightwing wasn't entirely sure what Danny was talking about.

"Their bodies." Danny groaned, as if it should have been obvious. "Come on, were they strewn about, or was it more of a laying around situation. I've got to know. I'm all invested now!"

"Ah, right." Nightwing placed a hand on his chin, pretending to think about it. "I would say it was more like they were… pounded into the ground."

"Oh really?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "Not holding back, are you?"

"What can I say?" Nightwing said with innocent shrug. "Someone was bothering me right before the fight, so I had a lot of pent up aggression to spend."

"Shame on that person." Danny said blandly. Nightwing laughed, shoving the halfa lightly.

"Enough joking around. What's going on?"

"Well, we've got a pretty big group." Danny turned back to the warehouse, switching into serious mode. "Looks like two gangs are trying to join up so they can beat back a rival group that's been encroaching on both their territory."

"That's not good." Nightwing muttered. "The last thing Gotham needs is another gang war. We barely survived the last one."

"Yeah, we should probably be pretty careful here." Danny looked unusually worried. "I mean, taking these guys off the street would be good, but it would leave a not insignificant power vacuum in the Gotham underworld. We might just end up empowering the rival gang that they're worried about."

Nightwing frowned. Danny was right. This was a delicate situation, one that had the potential to end up causing disaster.

"Well, there isn't much we can do from out here." He finally said. "Let's head in and see if we can get some more information. At the very least, we need to know what gangs we are dealing with."

Danny nodded and grabbed onto Nightwing. Soon they were both invisible and inside the building. Danny set them up on some rafters before letting his invisibility drop. In theory, it may have been better for him to keep it up, but in practice it was just a waste of energy. Nightwing could practically turn invisible all on his own, and besides. No one ever looked up.

The two heros watched as the meeting got underway. It was clear that neither of the gang leaders trusted the other, and the meeting quickly fell apart. As more and more threats were yelled, Nightwing began to worry that they would have to intervene just to stop the two gangs from killing each other.

Just as things were reaching their breaking point, a loud voice cut through the arguing.

"That's enough!"

Everyone fell silent, looking around in confusion. Nightwing and Danny did the same, searching for the source of the unfamiliar voice. Danny spotted him first, grabbing Nightwing's arm and pointing.

Standing on a rafter opposite from them was an unfamiliar figure. He was wearing a leather jacket and combat trousers, but his most notable feature was the red helmet he wore. It completely covered his face, leaving Nightwing with no hints as to his identity. Yet for some reason, the figure seemed oddly familiar.

The gangsters finally noticed the strange man. Soon, every gun in the building was aimed at him. The man seemed completely unconcerned about the danger he was in.

"I hate to interrupt your meeting," the man drawled, "But I thought I should tell you that it was completely pointless."

"Pointless?" One of the gang leaders sputtered. "What give you the right-"

"You see," the man interrupted. "That rival gang you guys are so worried about? Well, they aren't really a problem anymore."

The man reached down to pick up a duffle bag that had been sitting next to him. He tossed it down to the gang leaders below. The men looked at the bag uneasily before gesturing to one of their lackeys. The man inched forward, unzipping the bag and looking in. He immediately blanched, dropping the bag with a cry and backing away. Several other men approached to look into bag, only to react in the exact same way.

Nightwing and Danny exchanged a nervous look. Neither could see what was inside the bag, but they could tell that it was bad. Nightwing was about to suggest that Danny check it out when one of the gang leaders spoke up.

"What is the meaning of this? Are those…"

"That's right." The strange man seemed amused by the reactions of the gangsters. "It's the head of the leader of that rival gang of yours. Plus a few other mob boss heads thrown in for good measure. Do you like them? It only took me a few hours to collect them."

Nightwing swallowed. If what that man had said was true… He needed to tell Bruce about this.

"I don't believe it." One of the gang leaders said shakily. "There's no way that one person could do all of that. You're lying."

"Do you really want to test that theory? I mean, I'm being nice here. I could have just added your head to that bag, but instead I'm giving you the opportunity to join me without the need for violence. I already control all the area around your territory, so it wouldn't be hard for me to completely crush your little group. But if you would rather have your independence, I'm perfectly fine with leaving. Just know that the next time that you see me, I won't be so nice."

"It won't be an issue." One of the gangs leaders snarled. "Because you're gonna die right here."

The man laughed. "Ah, you're funny. Don't worry, I don't expect an answer right away. I'll give you a few days to think on it. Besides, you two have bigger problems to worry about."

"What problems?"

"Oh, I dunno. Problems like the two heros that are watching this whole thing go down?"

The strange man suddenly looked straight at Nightwing and Danny, drawing every criminal's attention to them. Shouts broke out amongst the gangsters as they realized that one of the Bats was in the building. The room dissolved into chaos, with weapons being fired in almost every direction. Danny grabbed onto Nightwing, turning them both intangible. The strange man who had given them away somehow disappeared in the confusion.

"What should we do?" Danny asked, sounding extremely casual for someone who was being fired at. Of course, that made sense considering the fact that bullets couldn't really hurt him. Nightwing was equally calm as he considered the situation.

"Let's go. Something tells me that these guys aren't going to be a problem for much longer. It's that red hood guy that we have to worry about. Let's see if we can track him down."

Danny nodded and phased out of the building, leaving the behind the angry criminals. Nightwing couldn't help but chuckle at how confused they would be when they realized that they were gone. Having Danny around really helped out the Bat mythos. Before, people just thought the Batfam could turn invisible and go through walls. Now, with Danny's help, they actually could.

Danny landed outside the building and Nightwing immediately got to work. He looked around, gauging where the man must have exited the building.

"He must have used that window," he said after a quick assessment. "Unless he's a ghost like you and can go through walls."

"Not a ghost, though you are pretty close."

Nightwing and Danny both spun to see the strange man standing a few yards away. Danny immediately went into a fighting stance, gathering ecto-energy in his hands. The green light lit the otherwise dark scene, giving it an otherworldly feel.

The man held up his hands, showing that he was unarmed.

"Relax. I'm not here to fight."

"That's not what it looked like when you gave away our position." Nightwing said evenly.

The man shrugged.

"I knew that those guys were nothing compared to you. Though you did get out a bit faster than I was expecting. Course, I didn't realize you had Casper with you. That makes a whole lot more sense."

Danny growled at the Casper comment. He was still sensitive about his nebulous species. He didn't mind friends joking about it, but strangers? That was a sure fire way to tick him off.

"What are you playing at?" Nightwing asked. "Trying to take over all the gangs in Gotham? Surely you know that will end in disaster."

"Well, you never know until you try." The man said with a casual shrug. "And don't worry, I'm not doing this to try and expand business. I actually intend to curtail it, to make it less destructive."

"What, so you're some kind of anti-hero?" Danny asked dubiously.

"Call it what you like." The man said carelessly. "Crime is never going to go away, no matter how many criminals you arrest. It's better to control it, to curb it's more evil tendencies. And if certain people don't feel like being controlled…"

"You simply kill them." Nightwing finished the sentence.

"What gave it away? Was it the bag full of heads? I know that was a bit overkill, but if there is one thing the Bat has taught me, it's that criminals respond well to intimidation tactics."

"Why are you bothering to tell us this?" Nightwing demanded. "Surely you know that we won't condone such behavior."

"I'm warning you." The man said, serious for the first time. "Don't get in my way. I wasn't lying when I said that I didn't want to fight you, but I will if I have to. We have the same goal, so just let me do my thing while you do yours, alright?"

"That's never going to happen." Nightwing said quietly. He wasn't sure why he was still talking to this man. Normally he would have attacked by now, but for some reason he was hesitating. He could tell that Danny was confused as well by the uneasiness in his posture. Danny didn't want to fight this man either. What was it about this man that seemed so familiar?

"Yeah, I figured you would say that." The man sighed. "You always were the goody two shoes of the family." The man slumped slightly. It was hard to tell with the helmet covering his entire face, but he seemed genuinely upset at Nightwing's words.

The strange melancholy that had overtaken the man left swiftly and he straightened back up.

"Well, I've said my piece. Remember this the next time we meet."

Before Nightwing could react, the man retreated into the shadows formed by Danny's light. He ran forward, but it was too late. The man was already gone.

Danny relaxed slightly, letting go of the energy he had stored in his hands.

"What just happened?" He asked, staring into the darkness.

Nightwing frowned, running the conversation through his head. Nothing was adding up. There were things that the man said that just didn't make sense. And then there was that haunting familiarity.

Nightwing scowled at the ground. He hated this feeling. He felt like he had all the puzzle pieces, just not a picture of what the puzzle was supposed to look like. It was incredibly frustrating.

He shook his head sharply, letting out a huff of air. He wasn't going to get anywhere just standing here.

"Come on. Let's call it a night. I need to talk to Batman about this regardless."

Danny nodded, grabbing Nightwing and taking off toward the Batcave. As the pair flew through the Gotham sky, Nightwing couldn't stop asking the same question over and over.

_Who are you?_

* * *

**AN: Yes, that one scene was inspired by Under the Red Hood. I just thought it was a really cool look into that character's… character. And no I'm not saying his name, just in case you somehow don't know who he is. For anyone who knows anything about the Batfam, it should be pretty obvious, but hey. If you only know about these characters from Young Justice, you may not know, so I won't spoil it. Just in case. **

**So yeah. I hope you guys can tell what this story is going to be about. I am so pumped! I hope that it lives up to everyone's expectations!**

**See ya later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: hm. Would you look at the date. Seems it's… been a while...**

**Okay, in my defense, I went through a major depressive episode where I literally didn't leave the house for like three weeks. I ended up having to withdraw from most of my classes because I was going to fail them. So I wasn't just being lazy!**

**But! Now I am on medication, and I'm seeing a therapist, and the semester is basically over, so I can get back to writing! Which is great, because not writing was really feeding into my guilt cycle which didn't help anything.**

**tl;dr, I am back in action! I am going to do my best on this story because I don't want to let you guys down! Reading your reviews makes me so incredibly happy and I definitely want to keep things good for all of you who bother to read my nonsense. **

**I have not managed to obtain the rights to Danny Phantom or Young Justice during my absence.**

* * *

Danny opened the fridge, looking for something eat. He frowned as he took in the baren shelves. It had been Dick's turn to go shopping this week, but he had clearly forgotten. Again.

Danny sighed, grabbing some ramen out of the cupboard. He didn't really blame Dick for forgetting to get groceries. His job at the police station took up a lot of time, and that was without adding in his 'extracurriculars.' Still, Danny couldn't help but be grateful that he had insisted on going with Dick when he had left the team three years ago. There was no way he would have survived on his own.

Ramen done, Danny served himself some, glancing at the clock. 3 AM. He frowned again, looking at the window as if Dick would magically show up right then. Danny had dropped Dick off at the Batcave nearly two hours ago. He should have been back by now.

Danny groaned, allowing his head to plonk down onto the kitchen counter. He should have just waited in Gotham, but Dick had insisted that Danny go home and get some rest. Danny had tried to go to sleep, but he was too unsettled. He had tossed and turned for more than an hour before giving up and deciding to eat something. He had hoped that it would calm his nerves, but the smell of food only made him feel nauseous.

With a defeated sigh, Danny shoved the food away from him. He wouldn't be able to relax until Dick returned. He stared at the wall blankly for a few minutes before wandering over to his office. He might as well get some work done if he was going to be awake.

The main problem, he thought as he started to look through his paperwork, was that he wasn't technically supposed to know where the Batcave was. Batman had never given Dick permission to tell him. Neither of them were sure what would happen once Batman found out he knew, but Danny really wasn't eager to find out. Though, if he were being perfectly honest with himself, he knew that Batman was most likely aware of his forbidden knowledge. He was Batman after all. But on the off chance he _didn't _know, Danny wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

Shaking his head to dispel the unpleasant thoughts, Danny focused more fully on the papers in front of him. He was behind on next month's budget and needed to get it done before the end of the day. He spared a moment to wish he liked coffee before diving into his work.

Danny had been jobless for nearly an entire year when he and Dick first moved to Bludhaven. He had managed to get his GED, but he never went to college. Plus, there was also the fact that he was legally dead. The League had gotten him some false paperwork, but he wouldn't pass a background check at most places. He had begun to think he would never have a job.

His luck had changed one day during their first winter in the city. Danny had been horrified by the sheer number of homeless people who were trapped outside in the freezing weather. Dick had mentioned a homeless shelter that he could direct them too, and Danny had latched onto the idea. However, he couldn't help but notice that the shelter was incredibly understaffed and underfunded. He was worried that it would shut down unless some action was taken.

So one day, two weeks after he first learned of the shelter, he had gone there in his civilian identity and offered his help. The workers were so glad to have help that they hadn't cared about his sketchy background. Danny had quickly been put in charge of finances. He may have hated math when he was in high school, but as he got older, he found he had an affinity for it. It appeared that the Fenton genius hadn't completely skipped him over afterall. It was rather comforting honestly. Danny was glad that at least a little of his family's smarts lived on through him.

He had worked at the shelter ever since. He wasn't paid much, but he didn't care. He and Dick made enough to get by, and at the end of the day, they were helping people. That was all that mattered to them.

Danny had just finished balancing the shelter's budget when he heard the window open. Danny looked up to see Dick climb through the window, looking exhausted. Looking at the clock, Danny wasn't surprised. It was pushing four-thirty now.

"You have work in half an hour." He commented, putting the completed budget away. Dick groaned, peeling his mask off.

"Don't remind me," he grumbled, collapsing on the couch. Danny grabbed the cold ramen from the kitchen and handed it to him. Dick took a bite without really looking at it, only to spit the noodles out.

"What the-" He peered blearily at the bowl before blinking up at Danny in confusion. "Did you make ramen at four in the morning?"

"No, I made it at three." Danny plopped down on the couch next to Dick. "Though to be fair, I could have made something better if someone had remembered to do the grocery shopping this week."

Dick groaned again, letting his head fall back on the couch.

"I'm sorry Danny. I keep swearing I'm going to do it, but then-"

"It's fine." Danny cut him off. "Honestly, I get it. I'll just do the shopping from now on, it's not a big deal."

"I can't let you do that." Dick protested weakly. "I want to help."

"You are helping!" Danny said with a laugh. "You make all the money."

Danny shifted, getting more comfortable. "Anyway, what did Bats say? And why did you take so long?"

"Bats didn't say anything." Dick muttered, standing up and making his way toward his bedroom. "He never came back. I waited for hours. Finally I had to leave because of work. I did leave a note though, so hopefully he gets back to me soon."

Danny frowned as Dick disappeared into his room. That wasn't like Batman.

"Did Alfred know anything?" He called out. Dick walked out of his room, now in his police uniform, and shook his head.

"Nothing specific. He did mention that Batman seemed rattled about something, but he wasn't sure what. His leaving was definitely last minute though, which is why we were called in. No one else was available at such short notice."

Dick sighed, patting his cheeks in an attempt to look more awake. He dragged a comb through his hair half heartedly before giving it up as a bad job. More or less ready, he turned to Danny.

"How do I look?"

Danny snorted, standing up. He patted Dick's hair down a bit and straightened his uniform. It didn't help much.

"You look like you're going to drop dead any second. What's up? This isn't the first all nighter you've pulled."

"Ah…" Dick suddenly looked very guilty. Danny narrowed his eyes at him.

"Dick, you did sleep last night, right?"

"Well, the thing is-"

"Dick!" Danny yelled. "You promised you would go to sleep after we finished patrol! Which was important, because you pulled an all nighter the night before! Are you telling me you've been awake for three days?"

"I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you!"

Danny really wanted to keep lecturing his ridiculous roommate, but unfortunately he had to leave or he'd be late to work, and they both knew it. He growled before sighing.

"Fine. There's nothing we can do about it now. But no patrol tonight, got it? You are going to sleep the whole night through, or I swear to god-"

"Got it!" Dick said hurriedly, grabbing his keys and heading toward the door. "No patrol tonight, I swear!"

"And no 'research' either!" Danny yelled as the door closed.

Alone again, Danny rubbed his head. He was starting to get a headache. He had been up all night, which wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary, but also wasn't pleasant. Plus, there was this whole thing with the mystery guy and Batman's unusual behavior. That promised to be a mess.

Danny groaned. He was too tired for this. Luckily he had a few hours before he had to go to work, so he could get a little sleep. He briefly considered cleaning up the uneaten ramen before deciding to do it later. He shuffled into his bedroom and fell onto his bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Welcome home Master Bruce. I hope whatever you've been doing was fruitful."

Batman grunted, brushing past Alfred and heading to the computer. Alfred sighed, walking over to his charge.

"Master Dick waited for you for several hours. He had to leave for work, but he left a note."

"I'll look at it later." Batman muttered, staring at the screen. Alfred tsked, sweeping up the leaves that Batman had tracked into the cave.

"And you wonder why he never comes to visit anymore."

Batman stopped what he was doing and sighed. He pulled his cowl off, rubbing his face tiredly.

"I'm sorry Alfred. I'm just really stressed at the moment. Where's his note, I'll look at it now."

Alfred set the broom down primly before walking over to Batman, pulling the note out of his pocket. Batman took it gently and unfolded it, looking it over. His interest visibly sharpened as he took in the contents of the note.

"Where's Dick now? I need to talk to him."

"He's at work. And before you ask, so is Master Danny. Which you should know, seeing as I have told you as much multiple times."

"Alfred, I don't have time for your passive aggressive lectures about Dick. This is incredibly important!"

"More important than your son?" Alfred asked sharply. "I know things have been difficult since Dick moved out, but that is no excuse for you to neglect your family!"

"I AM DOING THIS FOR MY FAMILY!" Batman yelled. Alfred didn't react to the outburst except to raise an eyebrow. Batman faltered under Alfred's gaze.

"I'm sorry. Just… trust me on this Alfred. I know I'm acting… off, but this is important, for _every _member of our family."

Alfred looked at him for a long moment before exhaling softly, looking down.

"He gets off work at four. If you wait at his apartment, you should probably be able to catch him before he goes on patrol."

Batman nodded, taking in the information. He glanced at the computer screen for a moment before turning back to Alfred with a sigh.

"Thank you Alfred." Batman said softly. "I'm going to fix things, I promise. I know I don't always act like it, but this family is incredibly important to me. I just… I just have to figure out this one thing."

"Family isn't as simple as fixing one thing, Master Bruce." Alfred said sadly. "But I do believe that you are doing your best."

"Do you really?" Batman asked wryly. "Well, that makes one of us."

The two men sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Batman got up.

"I'd better get ready. At the very least, it will be nice to see Danny again."

"You should just adopt the boy and get it over with." Alfred said, picking his broom back up and continuing sweeping. "Heaven knows that he is already a part of the family."

"He knows where the Batcave is, that's basically the same thing." Batman said carelessly, heading up into the mansion.

"Hm. And when do you plan on telling him that you are aware of that fact?"

Batman laughed sheepishly. "Ah, you know about that."

He shrank under Alfred's disapproving gaze.

"I'll bring it up when I see him today." He promised hurriedly and Alfred sighed.

"I suppose that will have to do. Please try not to give him a heart attack."

Batman nodded his assent, but Alfred wasn't convinced. Beneath all the darkness and stoic nature, Bruce was a drama queen at heart. Master Danny was going to have a bad couple of minutes, that was for sure.

As Batman headed into the mansion, Alfred focused back on his cleaning. As he worked, his mind was going a mile a minute. Bruce was acting very strange, there was no denying it. Alfred could not think of many things that could shake the man, especially not to this extent.

And then there was the focus on family. Alfred felt an old stab of grief as he thought of their lost child. Could this have something to do with…?

He shook his head sharply. No. They all knew what had happened in that situation. There was nothing to solve, nothing to 'fix.' Nothing they could fix. Whatever was bothering Bruce, it had to be something else.

Even so, Alfred couldn't stop himself from gazing at a certain display case for just a moment longer than usual before he finally left the Cave.

* * *

**AN: Yeah, that's right. I'm not even kinda being subtle. This story is about Jason, okay? There is literally no point in trying to hide it, it's obvious. **

**Well, to us at least. The characters have no clue what's going on. That's what makes it fun!**

**Anywho, in case you didn't know, it is canon that Dick Grayson moves to Bludhaven and becomes a cop. I just decided to make that part of my story and fix Danny into it. So don't be messaging me about how it's unrealistic, k? I don't know if any of you would do that, but just in case, that is why I made it that way.**

**Bye bye for now! Hopefully I get back quicker this time… **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: You guys are so nice! Thank you to everyone who wished me well, it really means a lot!**

**Also, yeah. Apparently I'm having a hard time getting back into a regular writing schedule. Even though I'm technically not in school right now, I'm still really busy somehow. Fun, right?**

**Anyway, enough with excuses. All you guys care about is the story! So here ya go. Enjoy!**

**I don't own Young Justice or Danny Phantom. I do own five cats though. Which I would argue is better.**

* * *

Dick stumbled up to the door of the apartment. He blinked rapidly, trying to get his vision to clear. It didn't really work, and it took him multiple attempts to insert his key into the lock and open the door.

He stumbled inside, closing and locking the door behind him. God, he was so tired. He didn't need Danny lecturing him to know that he had made a mistake. Luckily nothing too exciting had happened at work. He just didn't have the mental facilities to do anything harder than blinking right now. Still, at least his shift was over. As long as nothing unexpected happened, he could take the whole evening off. All he wanted to do was collaspe onto his bed and sleep for a week.

A slight sound banished all thoughts of sleep from his mind. He straightened out of his tired slump as adrenaline rushed through him. There shouldn't be anyone in the apartment right now. Danny didn't get off work for another three hours, and he would contact Dick if his plans had changed.

Dick inched his way toward the sound, making sure his steps were silent. He grabbed a bat from beside the door that he and Danny always left there for emergencies, testing the feel of it. Feeling prepared, he lept into the living room, only to immediately relax.

"Oh. It's you."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, setting down the book he was looking at. "Is that any way to greet your father?"

"What are you doing here." Dick ignored Bruce's question, leaning the bat against the coffee table and crossing his arms. "Also, would it have killed you to call ahead?"

Bruce sighed. Clearly Dick wasn't interested in playing along. He dropped the 'Bruce' persona, and Dick straightened slightly when he recognized that it was Batman that he was with now.

"It's about your note. I wanted to talk to you about the man you ran into."

"In person?" Now that they were talking business, Dick felt a bit more comfortable. Still, the entire situation felt off. Normally Batman wouldn't have come all the way to Bludhaven just to have a discussion like this.

"Yes. This is a… delicate situation. I need to be careful."

Dick squinted at Batman, suspicious. "What's that supposed to mean? Did you come here just so you could more accurately read my body language? What, did you think I would lie to you?"

"Of course not." Batman growled. "I was more worried about the transmission being hacked and this information getting out. Which you would have realized if you had just thought with your brain for three seconds."

"Oh." Dick deflated. That did make more sense. He wasn't sure why he had assumed… He groaned, rubbing his head. He was too tired to be dealing with his and Batman's weird relationship.

Batman sighed, his expression smoothing out slightly. "Look Dick, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's alright. It was my bad. I'm just… I'm just really tired at the moment. Could we reschedule this talk? Just until I can get a couple of hours of sleep in?"

Batman looked like he was about to protest, but he took in the obvious bags under Dick's eyes and the pleading in his tone and relented.

"Fine. Get some rest. It's nothing that can't wait a few hours."

"Thanks. Danny should be home soon; we can all talk then. Until then… make yourself at home, I guess."

Batman nodded, picking up the book he had been looking at before. Dick watched him for a moment before retreating to his room. He longed to go to bed immediately, but he took the time to change into some more comfortable clothing, knowing he would regret it later if he didn't. The last thing he did was send Danny a text warning him about Batman's presence before he finally allowed himself to fall into sleep's embrace.

* * *

Danny apologized to the person he had bumped into, but he didn't slow down. He couldn't. It was imperative that he get home as soon as possible.

He tried to keep his panic to a minimum, but it wasn't really working. Batman was at his house. Batman. The Batman. Was in his cruddy little apartment that still had dirty laundry sitting on the couch, and uneaten ramen on the table (he knew he should have cleaned it up last night!) and was in a rundown part of town with peeling paint, and a broken air conditioner, and oh lord, Batman was going to kill him. Batman was going to kill him for letting his son live in such filth. Batman was going to kill him because he didn't have a fancy butler that could clean the house and cook fantastic meals and not _leave uneaten ramen sitting out on the table why did he do that and-_

Danny's thoughts cut off as he reached the apartment. He swallowed nervously before approaching the building. He fumbled with his keys for a moment (and no, he wasn't stalling, he was just clumsy sometimes, alright?) before entering his home. He made sure to lock the door behind, maybe taking a bit longer to do so than normal. It was almost funny. He had been in such a hurry to get here, but now that he was, he was trying to stretch it out as long as possible.

Finally, he could delay no longer. Danny turned toward the living room, bravely accepting his fate.

Bruce looked up when he heard the front door open and close. It took a while, but Danny finally slunk into the living room. If he were anyone else, Bruce would probably laugh at the obvious fear on Danny's face. But he was Batman, so instead he merely gave Danny an unimpressed look.

"Manga?" He asked, holding up the book he had been looking at for the past couple of hours. Danny laughed uneasily.

"Ah. Yeah. Garfield got me into it a couple of years ago. You know, there are actually some really intriguing story lines in manga that wouldn't be told in more traditional media, like the Tokyo Ghoul series, or…"

Danny trailed off, turning bright red. Bruce had to bite the inside of his cheek to hold back his laughter. Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, glancing around the room.

"Of course, you wouldn't really care about that, would you? Um. Right. Uh… do you want something? We're kinda short of groceries at the moment, but I could probably figure something out."

"Actually, there is something I would like from you Danny." Bruce said coldly, setting the manga down. Danny gulped, hiding his trembling hands behind his back.

"R-really? What would that be?"

"An explanation." Bruce said bluntly, making eye contact with the terrified halfa. "On why you know where the Batcave is."

Danny turned several different colors in a manner of seconds. His blush drained away, leaving him almost white, before Bruce's words seemed to really sink in and he turned an ill looking gray. He looked like he was about to faint. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out.

Bruce kept up the facade for a few more seconds before smiling. He laughed, patting a still terrified Danny on the shoulder.

"Relax. I've always known that you knew about it. I would have done something if I was upset about it."

"Oh." Danny said faintly, a bit of color coming back into his face. "That's… good."

Bruce nodded congenially. Abruptly, his entire demeanor changed. The slight mirth in his eyes faded away to become deadly serious.

"But just to be clear. If anyone ever discovers the location of the Batcave because of you, there will be consequences. Understood?"

Danny went white again. "Y-yes sir."

Bruce smiled, playing the affable billionaire again. "Good! Now, why don't you go wake up Dick? We have a lot to talk about."

Danny made some kind of strangled sound that sounded vaguely affirmative before fleeing into Dick's room.

* * *

Dick woke abruptly when he heard his door open. He jumped up, but relaxed when he saw it was just Danny. Upon closer inspection, he tensed up again. Danny looked awful, pale and shaking.

"Danny? What's wrong?"

Danny blinked a few times, seeming to pull himself together a bit. At least, that's what Dick thought until Danny opened his mouth.

"Your dad is going to kill me."

Dick relaxed again, this time more fully. He chuckled a bit, ignoring Danny's scandalized look.

"Bruce isn't going to kill you. He actually really likes you."

"He knows that I know about the Batcave!" Danny whisper-shrieked. "Also, he saw how we live! He saw the ramen!"

"Dude, he lived with me for years. He knows that I'm not clean. Trust me, it's fine." He paused, his brow furrowing as he took in all of Danny's words. "Wait, what ramen?"

Danny stared despairingly at Dick for a moment before seemingly giving up.

"You know what? Whatever. Let's just… get this over with."

"Something we can both agree on." Dick said grimly. He felt a bit better physically, but he still wasn't ready to deal with Bruce. He wasn't sure if he would ever feel totally ready, but ignoring the problem wouldn't make it go away. Time to bite the bullet.

The two young men emerged from Dick's room, Danny 'subtly' hiding behind Dick. Bruce looked up at the both of them before gesturing for them to sit on the couch. Dick bristled a bit at that, but he let it go, slouching onto the couch, tugging Danny down until he was sitting as well.

"Tell me about the man you met last night."

So. No more playing around then. Bruce was gone. There was only Batman now. Dick was fine with that. He could deal with Batman.

Dick did as asked, detailing exactly what happened the night before. Batman didn't interrupt, simply listening. When Dick was finished, he nodded once.

"Is that all?"

Dick was about to say yes when Danny nervously interjected.

"Um, actually, there was one other thing."

Dick looked at Danny in surprise. What was he talking about? Danny was by no means oblivious, but Dick was generally the more observant one of the pair. Batman seemed a bit surprised as well, if the slight tilt of his head was anything to go off of. He gestured for Danny to continue, which the halfa did, albeit nervously.

"Um. Well, I don't really blame Dick for not mentioning this, but he said something kind of weird. I don't remember exactly, but Dick said something about him being a ghost, and he said that Dick was close. Which doesn't really make sense at first, you know?"

Dick frowned at Danny;s word choice. It seemed that Batman had caught it as well based on his next question.

"At first? So you're saying it makes more sense after some consideration?"

Danny shifted uncomfortably, looking away. Dick recognized that look. That was how Danny looked whenever he had to talk about ghosts and his own place in that world.

"Well, I'm sure that norma- uh, I mean, most people wouldn't notice. But that man… he didn't feel… human."

"An alien?"

Danny shook his head rapidly. "No! I mean, he was definitely human. Not even a meta I don't think. And he wasn't a ghost, or even a halfa, I would have recognized that immediately. But… there was definitely something off. If I had to describe it, I would say it was like someone who'd had a near death experience that just… never stopped. If that makes sense."

Seeing Dick's blank look, Danny left out a frustrated huff. "Sorry. I really can't explain it. I'd never felt anything like it before."

Dick set his hand on Danny's knee, trying to calm him. He knew how hard this had to be for Danny. Danny really didn't like talking about ghosts, or even some of his own abilities. The ghost sense was one that Danny prefered to ignore. Like all of his powers, it had grown stronger as he aged, until it worked on almost everyone. It was never as obvious as it was with ghosts, but Danny could generally tell what people were, even on a first meeting. It was actually incredibly helpful in their line of work, not that Dick would ever tell Danny that. If his friend wanted to avoid the topic, he could do that for him.

Batman didn't afford him the same courtesy.

"Try. Don't think about, just talk. What did it feel like?"

"Like someone who came back from the dead." Danny spat out. His eyes widened as he realized what he had said. Dick stared at him in shock, but Batman just looked resigned. Like that was what he had thought Danny would say.

"I'm sorry for bothering you both. I'll be going now."

"Wait!" Dick yelled, jumping up from the couch and grabbing onto Batman's arm. "You're just leaving? You aren't going to explain what's going on?"

"What makes you think I know what happening?" Batman asked dryly. Dick scoffed.

"Is that even really a question. Danny obviously just confirmed something for you, don't even deny it. If you don't know for sure, than you at least have an idea."

Batman said nothing for a moment before sighing.

"You're right. I do have an idea. And what Danny said added more evidence to it being true. But it is still just an idea. I don't want to say anything until I know for sure, because if it is true…"

Batman looked incredibly sad, staring at nothing before finally looking Dick right in the eye.

"Can you please trust me, just this once?"

Dick stared into Bruce's eyes, torn. There was so much he wanted to say, so much that he wanted to explain.

"I've always trusted you Bruce." He finally managed to say. Bruce's eyes widened, before he looked away. He grabbed his jacket off a chair and slipped it on, heading toward the front door.

"I'll contact you when I know more." There was no emotion in Batman's voice. Whatever moment the two Wayne's had had, it was now over. Dick didn't say anything, not even nodded to confirm he had heard Batman's words. The man didn't hesitate, walking out of the apartment and leaving tense silence in his wake.

Danny looked at Dick nervously before standing and walking to the door. He locked it carefully, once again taking a bit longer than strictly necessary in the task. Once finished, he turned back to Dick, hesitating before speaking.

"What… what happened between you two?"

Dick said nothing, staring blankly at the floor.

"I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

"Oh." Dick felt instant regret when he heard Danny's wounded tone, but he just couldn't talk about it. Not right now.

Danny walked over to the coffee table, picking a bowl of ramen. He carried it to the kitchen sink, and washed the bowl quietly. Dick didn't move the entire time, still standing in the middle of the living room.

Danny excited the kitchen wearing his jacket. "I'm gonna go get some groceries. When I come back, we can have a late dinner. Sound good?"

"Danny-"

"Don't."

Dick closed his mouth abruptly at Danny's word. Danny smiled, a little strained maybe, but still genuine. When he saw that Dick wasn't going to interrupt, Danny continued.

"Don't apologize. You're clearly upset, and I should have known not to push. Just… take this time to get your head on straight, alright? I'll be back soon."

Dick didn't try to speak again as Danny left the apartment. Soon he was left in silence, but it didn't feel stifling. It felt… peaceful almost.

Dick let out a rueful laugh. He really didn't deserve Danny. But thank god he had met him. In that moment, he promised to explain everything to Danny. But first…

When Danny got home, it was to find Dick completely passed out on his bed. He smiled at the sight before retreating to his own room. Food could wait until morning.

* * *

**AN: I don't actually read manga. Sorry. I'm honestly a bit afraid to get sucked into such a large fandom when the ones I'm already in are ruining my life. Though I have read a bit of Tokyo Ghoul, which is why I mentioned that one.**

**Yep. Conflict between Batman and Nightwing. As you've probably noticed, the theme of this story is family. Jason is a part of that, obviously, but there is also Dick and Danny's relationship and Dick and Bruce's. I will explain why Dick and Bruce are fighting, but prolly not for a while. Just as a heads up.**

**If you thought Batman was out of character… yeah. At first, it's just because he is a. Putting on the Bruce Wayne mask and b. Messing with Danny. He shifts into more 'just Batman' later. So I hope it wasn't too bad.**

**Anyway…. Bye guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: K. So. Here's the thing. I may… have started another story and it may have caused me to maybe, just maybe, neglect… this one. A little. Maybe.**

**I'M SORRY! I knew this would happen! The other story is labeled as 'terrible idea' in my files because I knew that if I started a new story my other ones would suffer! And I did it anyway! And my other stories totally did suffer! Ah, I'm so ashamed.**

**Well, I'm back now. Hopefully I'll be able to divide my time between stories more wisely now. Hope you guys like the new chapter!**

**I don't own Danny Phantom or Young Justice. Jeeze, it's been a while. No more neglecting my stories! (haaa… that would be nice… )**

* * *

Danny huffed. He was bored. Which was technically a good thing, considering he was on patrol. It was better for everyone if the local vigilante didn't have anything to do. Though he wasn't technically a vigilante anymore. At least, he didn't think so. That's what it meant when you were officially registered as a hero with the Justice League, right? But a lot of people still called heros vigilantes, so maybe it was more of a symbol. Except, the League worked with the UN, so obviously they were official. On the other hand, he wasn't technically part of the League, so did that mean-

A gust of cold air cut off Danny's rambling thoughts. He froze at the feeling. He hadn't felt it in _years_.

_His ghost sense._

Danny hesitated, uncertain. The odds of it being an actual ghost were quite slim. Ghosts very rarely made it into the human world unless there was a stable portal for them to get through. With the Fenton portal shut down and GIW gone, there weren't really any of those around anymore. Of course, it could be a trap. Danny had learned the hard way that it was possible to fake the signals ghosts gave off.

Still, he couldn't just ignore it. If there was a malevolent ghost around, he was the best suited to deal with it. Of course, that didn't mean he had to be careless about the situation.

He tapped his earpiece, turning it on.

"Shade?" Nightwing's voice came through the earpiece. They usually split up for patrol unless they were going after a specific target. "What's up? Things are pretty calm around here."

"Yeah, same," Danny said distractedly, already doing his best to try and track down whatever had given off the signal. "Except… my ghost sense just went off."

"..."

Nightwing was silent, obviously processing the news.

"Is it legit?" He finally asked.

"Not sure," Danny admitted. "I'm trying to find it now. Just thought I should tell you, considering what happened last time."

"I'm headed your way." Nightwing obviously remembered it just as clearly as Danny did. "Be careful until I get there."

"Yes sir." Danny said sarcastically. He turned his earpiece back off, rolling his eyes. He wasn't a teenager anymore. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

That didn't stop him from being cautious as he honed in on the signal. If it was a trap, then whoever had set it would definitely have anti-ghost technology.

He settled on the roof of a nearby building, looking around. He knew that the signal had originated somewhere around here, but he wasn't sure where exactly.

He was considering his next move when a voice startled him.

"Phantom?"

Danny jerked around, hands lighting up. No one had called him that since he had escaped the GIW. In theory, there shouldn't be anyone left who could connect that name to him. He was sure that Dick and Batman knew, but besides that, he had never told anyone who he was before he joined the team.

A figure appeared on the edge on the roof. They were just outside of the light Danny was making, leaving them in shadow. He glared at the figure, keeping his guard up.

"Who are you? How do you know that name?"

"I can't believe it." The voice was hauntingly **(haha, pun) **familiar. "We thought you were dead."

Danny frowned, lowering his hands slightly. It couldn't be.

"Ember?"

The figure stepped forward into the light, showing that it really was the punk rock ghost he had fought back when he was a teenager. She looked different, older, more worn, but it was definitely her.

"Heya dipstick." She said with a grin. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Danny blinked. He slowly raised a hand… and then punched himself in the face.

"Oww…" Danny clutched his nose. That… may not have been his smartest idea ever.

"Well. Clearly you are very excited to see me." Ember said wryly. Danny gave her a baleful glare.

"I've had a really strange week, alright?" He muttered. It was true. First, he went and partoled in Gotham for the first time in like, forever. Then they met that weird guy, who also seemed really familiar for some reason. Then Batman came to his house, and now this. It was ridiculous. It really seemed more likely that this whole week was actually some prolonged nightmare than it being reality.

Ember chuckled. "Glad to see that you're still you. Even after… everything that happened."

The mood plummeted at her words. Danny looked away, clenching his fist. He didn't want to think about that.

"What are you doing here Ember?" He said quietly. She sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I dunno." She admitted. "It's just nice to see someone from… before, I guess. There aren't many of us left you know."

Danny frowned, looking back at Ember. "What are you talking about?"

Ember's eyes widened. "You don't know?"

At Danny's blank look, she frowned.

"No, I guess you wouldn't." She mumbled. She looked conflicted for a second before sighing again.

"Things… things changed after you were taken. I don't think any of us ever realised how important you were in keeping the peace. With you gone, Amity became a war zone. The GIW… they went almost insane. Without you to focus on, they were able to grab any ghost that even stuck its nose out of the Ghost Zone."

Danny felt sick. He knew that there had been other ghosts in the lab with him, but he had never really considered where they had come from.

"Did they… did you…"

Ember looked away.

"They took the portal." She whispered. "The broke it almost immediately, the morons. They had no clue how to work it. But after it broke, we were stuck. Anyone who was on this side, they couldn't get back."

"Vlad-" Danny started, but Ember shook her head.

"Plasmius completely cut himself off. He put a ghost shield up around his house, never let anyone in. Last I heard, he hadn't left the place in years. Your mom… that broke him."

Danny closed his eyes. He hadn't thought about Vlad in a long time. Hearing what had happened to him… he wasn't sure. The man had hurt him, had hurt his whole family. But he couldn't help but remember a different Vlad, one who had also witnessed his mother's death. Could this Vlad have turned out like that one?

Danny shook his head. It didn't matter. Vlad wasn't his problem anymore.

"Why were you all over here in the first place?" He asked, forcefully pushing the issue of Vlad from his mind. Ember gave him a dry look.

"You were gone, remember? We all kinda assumed you would escape in a couple of days, so we wanted to take advantage of the time to go nuts."

She laughed bitterly. "It didn't work out that way."

Danny almost didn't want to ask, but he had to know.

"Who did they take?"

Ember shrugged. "Everyone. It would be easier to list the ones that got away honestly. The only ones that remained free were the ones who were in the Ghost Zone."

"And…" Danny hesitated. "Who's still alive."

"Well, me." Ember said with a slight smirk. It was gone almost instantly. "I'm pretty sure Technus is still kicking. I saw Kitty a few years back, but I doubt she's still around. Johnny… he never made it out of the labs. She was barely hanging on last I saw her. She's probably faded by now."

Ember took a deep breath, trying to look unaffected, but Danny could clearly see the loneliness hanging off of her.

"Besides them… I don't know. We were sent all over. I've been looking since the labs shut down, but until I found you, I was pretty sure I was just hunting for people who weren't around anymore."

Danny was quiet. He didn't know how to feel. He hadn't been friends with any of the ghosts from back then. Far from it. But, they didn't deserve to go out like that. No one deserved that. And the idea that he was one of the only ones to survive the GIW… it was hard.

"I could rebuild the portal."

The words were out before Danny could stop them. Ember gaped at him. She clearly hadn't been expecting that.

"I mean," Danny tried to backtrack, to explain. "I doubt that you want to be here. The Ghost Zone is your home, right? If I rebuild the portal, I can get you home. Then I'll just destroy it again, and it will be fine."

"You would do that?" Ember had tears in her eyes. "After everything I did to you?"

Danny smiled humorlessly. "Trust me, nothing you ever did to me was even close to the worst thing I've experienced. I'm pretty sure I can it behind me."

Ember let out a watery laugh. "I can't help but agree with that."

"It will take me awhile to build it," Danny said, thinking out loud. He glanced at Ember. "Think you could hunt down any other survivors you know of? The more ghosts we can get back through the better."

"I've got a few people in mind." Ember said with a grin. "No one you know, but I've kept in contact with a few friends who survived the labs with me. They probably have some people as well."

"Awesome!" Danny smiled. "Alright. Give me three months to rebuild the portal. Take the time to gather everyone you can find. Meet me here on August 23rd, and I'll get you all home."

Ember gave him a thumbs up, and started to fly off. She paused at the edge of the roof, rushing back and giving Danny a sudden hug. Danny stiffened, but relaxed when he realised that Ember wasn't attacking. He hesitantly put his arms around her.

"Thank you." She whispered. Before Danny could respond, she was gone, phasing out of Danny's arms and flying off. Danny stared after her. He was still having a hard time believing she had been there. It was only the throbbing of his nose that convinced him the conversation had actually happened.

"Shade!"

Danny wasn't sure how long he had been standing there when Nightwing finally arrived. When Danny didn't respond, Nightwing panicked.

"Shade! Are you okay? What happened to your face? Did someone punch you?"

Danny blinked, coming back to the present. He waved Nightwing's hand away from his face.

"I'm fine Wing. I punched myself."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Right. You punched yourself. Why was I worried? That is clearly the behavior of someone who is completely fine."

Danny snorted, then winced as pain shot through his face.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up. It was a bad decision, alright? I was just surprised."

"Hm." Nightwing leaned up against a nearby air conditioning unit. "And what could have surprised you into punching yourself?"

Danny's face fell. Nightwing frowned, straightening.

"Shade?" He asked, concern written over the parts of his face that Danny could see.

Danny took a deep breath, turning toward Nightwing.

"I think it's time we paid the Team a visit."

* * *

**AN: Who saw that coming? Not me, that's for sure!**

**I know that this seems like an abrupt shift in the story, but it is important. Danny rebuilding the portal is a BIG DEAL and it is going to launch the story forward, so I needed a reason for him to do it. Plus, it's kinda cool to see the aftermath of the GIW's reign of terror.**

**Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, Ember was freed when the GIW was shut down. That all happened in Double or Nothing, so I didn't want to go into it again.**

**Anyway, sorry again for the wait. See you guys next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Well. I clearly cannot be trusted. So I will refrain from making any kind of promises. **

**I do not own Danny Phantom or Young Justice. Geez, it's been a while.**

* * *

Danny grinned as he stepped out of the zeta tube. It didn't matter how many times he came to the Watchtower, he still loved it. The view of the stars was amazing, and he could never get enough of it. Visiting the Watchtower was the closest he would ever come to fulfilling his dream of being an astronaut, so he would cherish it any chance he got.

"DANNY!"

Danny barely had time to brace himself before a small green figure crashed into him. He staggered, but managed to stay on his feet. He laughed, wrapping his arms around the kid who was currently attempting to hug the life out of him.

"Heya Garfield. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The shapeshifter beamed up at him before abruptly frowning.

"It's been six months!" He yelled. "You promised you would be here for Christmas, but you never showed!"

Danny winced.

"You're right. I'm sorry. There was this whole thing with a robot and mind control- you know what, never mind. That's just an excuse. I should have come sooner."

Garfield pouted for a few more seconds before grinning again.

"It's alright Danny. I know you're busy. Just don't let it happen again."

"Oh he won't," Dick said, coming up behind Danny and slinging an arm around his shoulders. "I'll make sure of it."

"Because you're so much better."

Danny and Dick turned to see Kaldur, Megan and Connor approaching. Connor had been the one to speak.

Dick laughed a tad self-consciously.

"What, me? I don't know what you're talking about."

Megan raised an eyebrow.

"Who was it who left without even saying goodbye again?"

"Okay!" Dick threw his hands up. "Look, the important thing is that we are all together now. How about we focus on that?"

By this point Garfield had managed to clamber up onto Danny's back. They both snickered at Dick's discomfort. Kaldur smiled slightly, patting his old friend on the shoulder.

"I agree with Nightwing. Let's use this opportunity to catch up."

Danny's smile faded. He sighed, setting Garfield down.

"As much as I would love that, this isn't exactly a social visit." He said quietly, not wanting to attract attention outside of their small group. Kaldur frowned, glancing at Nightwing who shrugged. Danny was being surprisingly tight lipped about what was going on.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, lowering his voice to match Danny's. Danny frowned.

"Not exactly… Look, can we go somewhere private? I don't really want this getting out."

Kaldur frowned but nodded. Megan and Connor exchanged glances, clearly concerned, but they didn't push it. They gave Dick and Danny one last smile before walking off. It was a bit harder to convince Garfield to leave, but soon enough they were alone.

Kaldur led them into a small room just down the hallway from the main hub. As soon as the door was closed, Kaldur and Dick focused in on Danny.

"Okay, are you going to explain what's up now?" Dick asked, slightly exasperated at still being in the dark. Danny chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before finally speaking.

"I need access to Mount Justice."

Kaldur jerked back as if he had been struck and Dick hissed slightly. Mount Justice was a very touchy subject for the Team, the two of them especially. No wonder Danny didn't want the rest of the Team to hear this.

"Why?" Kaldur managed to ask. The old base wasn't off-limits per say, but it was strongly encouraged for the Team to leave their previous location alone. That was mostly because of how unstable it was, but there were other considerations as well. The whole world knew about Mount Justice by this point and they could never be sure that some villian wasn't keeping an eye on it on the off hand chance that some hero would turn up.

Of course, all of that was secondary to the real reason the Team avoided the ruins. It was simply too painful for them to take in the destruction of their old home, especially for people like Danny who had lived there full time.

Danny shifted uncomfortably.

"I left something there." He mumbled. "I didn't think I would need it again, but something came up."

Kaldur and Dick exchanged uneasy glances. Dick stepped forward.

"Danny, anything you might have left there is long gone by now. If it wasn't destroyed by the explosion, than the elements would have gotten it by now."

Danny huffed, looking frustrated.

"Gee, thanks for telling me that, Captain Obvious. Clearly I'm a complete idiot and none of that occured to me."

Dick frowned, taken aback by Danny's harsh tone. Danny's gaze softened and he sighed quietly, running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry, that was uncalled for. But trust me, the thing I'm after will be fine. I went to great lengths to make sure that it wouldn't be damaged."

Kaldur took a deep breath, suppressing his nerves.

"I would be happy to accompany you Danny," he said, with only a hint of hesitation, "but… why? You do not need my permission, and it would probably be safer if you went alone."

Danny shrugged one shoulder.

"Well, I will need your permission to use the thing I'm retrieving, so I figured you might as well come with. Besides…"

Danny hunched in on himself.

"I… I have bad memories from that time. You and Dick make me feel safe. I'm not sure sure I could bring myself to go in if I were alone."

Kaldur closed his eyes, trying to swallow back bile. He had bad memories of that time as well. If there was one thing he regretted more than anything else about his time undercover, it was the destruction of Mount Justice and the subsequent capture of the people who lived there. It was bad enough that Bart and Garfield had been taken, but Danny? He could still remember Danny screaming as the Reach experimented on him. It had been the hardest thing he had ever done, offering Danny up to be experimented on again. A large part of him had never forgiven Dick for approving that plan. And an even larger part had never forgiven himself.

Dick looked similarly stricken. He had confided in Kaldur once that he couldn't understand why Danny had forgiven them for that. Wally never had, not even in the end. Maybe, given enough time, they could have reconciled. But now they would never know.

Kaldur took a deep breath, putting aside his own turmoil. He smiled at Danny, glad to see some of the tension leave the halfa's frame.

"Of course I'll go with you. I am free right now if you wanted to go."

Danny seemed taken aback by that. He glanced at Dick nervously before his expression steeled. He nodded once decisively.

"Yeah, let's go. No point in putting it off."

With an air of uneasiness, the three men headed to the zeta tubes.

* * *

Danny stared at Mount Justice. The zeta tubes that used to lead to the base no longer worked so they had taken the next closest one, which was nearly half an hour away. It had given Danny an uncomfortably long time to think.

Mount Justice had been his home. It had been the first place where he was happy after losing everything. The fact that yet another one of his childhood homes had been destroyed was difficult for him to reconcile.

Still, he had changed since then. He wasn't the vulnerable kid he had been back then. He could handle it.

He grabbed Kaldu and Dick's hands, turning them all intangible. He took off, flying them through the walls of the mountain. In a matter of seconds, they were in the old hangar.

Danny swallowed harshly. He had known it would be bad, but this? This was awful. He let go of his intangibility without thinking, stepping forward to get a better look.

He supposed he should be grateful that the place was still standing at all. The damage done to the roof wasn't as bad as it could have been, all things considered. That didn't make it any easier to take in the charred remains. He stared at the pedestal where Megan's ship would be if things were different. He had spent so many days here, waiting for the Team to return from their latest mission. And now it was destroyed.

"Danny?" Dick asked hesitantly. Danny turned away from the empty pedestal, walking deeper into the Cave.

"Come on," he said horsley. "I left it in my room."

The trio was silent as the navigated the wreckage of the Cave. Danny had to turn them intangible quite a few times. The hangar had been practically unscathed compared to the rest of the base. It had been on the edge of the explosion, sparing it too much damage. The central hub, where the zeta tubes had been, was completely destroyed. There was nothing left.

Luckily, they didn't need to go through there. Instead, they turned away from the center of the base, heading to where the bedrooms were. These were fairly undamaged as well. At least, the were recognizable as something that had once been a room. The front walls were pretty much gone, and any personal items that might have been left were gone, destroyed by the rubble.

Danny ignored all of this, heading to the rubble that had once been his room. He felt a pang as he looked at the room. If he closed his eyes, he could remember what the space had once looked like, but he couldn't project that image onto the place's new reality.

He shook his head, refusing to get caught up in melancholy. Yes, this place was gone, but he had moved on. He had a new home, and a new family. He would always miss this place, but he refused to let it haunt him.

He stepped forward with new confidence, picking his way through the debris. It was a little difficult to remember where everything had once been, but he did his best, stopping once he thought he was in the right place. He turned his arm intangible and reached into the floor, feeling around.

For a moment he thought he was in the wrong place, but then he felt it. Grinning, he reached down further, plunging the entire length of his arm into the floor. He came back up a moment later, holding a strange looking tube.

Dick gasped, stepping forward.

"Is… Is that..?"

Danny nodded, holding the tube close.

"It's my parent's research." He confirmed.

"I thought you destroyed it." Dick said, his eyes wide as he stared at the tube.

"I was going to." Danny admitted, staring at the device that held all of his parents research. "So many people were hurt because of it. But in the end, I couldn't do it. It's the only thing I have of theirs."

Danny shrugged, looking torn.

"When the Cave was destroyed, I thought it was a sign. It would be left in the rubble, never to be discovered. But I need it now."

He stared up at Dick and Kaldur pleadingly.

"I met an old… acquaintance last night. A ghost. She was captured by the GIW around the same time I was. She was freed when the GIW went down, but she's been stuck here ever since. Her and all the other ghosts that the GIW experimented on. I told her I would rebuild the ghost portal and send them all home, but I needed these blueprints to do it."

"Rebuild the ghost portal?" Dick looked concerned. "Is that even possible?"

"It should be." Danny said, standing up. "I know my way around ecto-technology, even if it has been a while. I can make it work."

He paused, giving a Kaldur a sheepish look.

"Though, I would like a favor."

"What is it?" Kaldur asked, slightly confused. "I am willing to help, but I doubt that I would be of much use in attempting to build such a device."

Danny shook his head rapidly.

"No, not that! It's just, well…"

Danny trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"Look, I really don't want this technology falling into the wrong hands. Would it be alright if I built the portal on the Watchtower?"

Kaldur blinked, surprised. He hadn't been expecting that. Though it did make a lot of sense. No one could get onto the Watchtower without permission from the Justice League. It would be safer there than anywhere on Earth.

"Of course." Kaldur said softly, before smiling. "At ;east this way you will have to visit more often."

Dick and Danny both blushed flailing their arms and protesting that they did visit, they were just busy, besides, it's not like he had a job outside of crime fighting, so really he couldn't judge them, they were doing their best…

Kaldur grinned as his friends continued to argue, walking behind them as they left the Cave.

The next few months would be very interesting.

* * *

Vlad stared into his fireplace. An empty bottle of wine sat on the table next to him. This was how he spent most of his nights these days, drunk and wallowing. He lifted his cup to take another drink, only to find it empty. He hurled it at the wall in frustration, watching it shatter into pieces. He felt better for a split second before the despair swallowed him again.

"What would you think of me now, Daniel?" He mumbled.

He sat still for another moment before deciding that he needed more alcohol. He dragged himself to his feet, swaying slightly. He was about to head to the kitchen when someone spoke.

"Geez, look at you old man. Maybe my contacts were wrong. I doubt you could be of much use to anyone."

Vlad spun, his vision blurring at the sudden movement. His gaze caught onto a figure standing in the corner of the room. He scowled at it.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?"

The figure laughed, not looking the least bit intimidated.

"Look, I'll answer all of your questions and more, but first you gotta do something for me, 'k old man?"

Vlad snarled at the man, wanting nothing more than to just blast him out of existence. He was just about to do that when he paused. This... this was something new. The first thing that had caught his attention since the entire Fenton family had died.

Vlad knew that he was pathetic. He knew that he had basically thrown his life away these past eight years. If he had a chance to actually do something again…

"Fine," he muttered, falling back into his chair. "Have a seat. I'll hear you out."

The man stepped forward into the light. Vlad was only mildly surprised to see that he was wearing a helmet that completely covered his face. The man sat on the chair across from him. Vlad couldn't see his face, but he could hear his smile as he spoke.

"Hello Masters. My name is Red Hood."

* * *

**AN: I am so sorry this took so long. I hope you enjoyed the cliff hanger! Maybe that will encourage me to update more quickly next time! Hah…**

**Anyway, a small peak into what happened during season 2! Not a huge plot point, prolly won't come up again, but I felt like it fleshed out this world a little bit more, so I put it in. Well, it may come back up. Maybe. I dunno, this fic is way less planned than the first one. Is that obvious? I feel like it's obvious. **

**Sorry once again for the wait! I love and appreciate all of you who read my stories! Seriously, thank you all so much.**

**Bye for now!**


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